A New Day

05Nov08

I graduated from college in 1992, a few months before President Clinton’s election. It was in the midst of a recession under Bush #1, and most of my generation felt alienated from the previous 12 years of Reagan/Bush. With Clinton’s win, we were overjoyed with hope and possibility, the feeling of relief that washed over us.

Tonight is exponentially so much greater, both in the sense of despair preceding it and the possibilities going forward. I was weepy during Obama’s acceptance speech, overwhelmed with what we managed to do. For the volunteers and believers, especially the youth who were so instrumental in this election, its time to bask in the glow of the most convincing victory in decades.

And let’s hope that Obama doesn’t let us down anywhere near as much as Clinton did.

Related

I was working Trillian, Twitter, and Facebook last night as I watched the returns on CNN with my folks here in the “near downtown” (previously the near west side) district of Madison. We opened our bottle of champagne in profound… not disbelief—not quite. You don’t know how much you have forced yourself to not count on something happening until it does. New Mexico? Nevada? Virginia? Ohio? Three whole counties in Kansas? We cried at both speeches. I sang, “the times, they are a-changin'” and made my mother (who started college around ’66) laugh and cry at the same time.

And every update to every electronic social tool read something like this: “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.”

Now we just have to make certain the youth of America engage more often than once every four (or should it be counted three?) presidential terms.